The Potter Saga: James Jackson
by TheNewManTheNewLegend
Summary: A story based on a challenge by LifeJumper123, details in the first author's note. Harry Potter gets sent back to the Civil War-era United States and is taken in by Thomas Stonewall Jackson, consequently changing the Harry Potter series. It should be a pretty fluid timeline, and to be honest, I'm kinda winging it. So if it sucks, let me know.
1. Prologue

**/* See my profile for standard ownership disclaimer. This is a challenge I first saw on LifeJumper123's story Harry Potter-Lee. The requirements:**

**Harry must be raised by famous person or reincarnated famous person. DONE.**

**If Harry is raised by a famous person, he must return to his timeline before or during any of the school years. DONE.**

**Harry must somehow change the Muggle World, Magical World, or both. If he is raised by a famous person, he can change the past, present, or both. DONE.**

**Relationships: Harry and anyone female or Harry/Harem. Absolutely no slash. DONE. To be honest, I never got the Harry/Draco and Harry/Voldemort slash stories out there, but that's may be just me.**

**OPTIONAL: Super/Godlike Harry. DONE.**

**Note: I may be loose and free with dates, places, and facts, but it's fiction. Deal with it. Leggo!  
>***

Lily and James Potter were sitting on a sofa in the living room of their cottage in Godric's Hollow thinking about the prophecy that Dumbledore had just told them. "For neither can live while the other survives" was as clear as prophecies generally came. They knew that either their baby boy or the son of their good friends the Longbottoms would be destined to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort.

So, the Potters started thinking about ways to keep their son alive long enough to defeat Voldemort. While they already had the Fidelius on the cottage, they also wanted a backup plan in case the worst were to happen.

James and Lily, with their intelligence and access to the extensive and ancient Potter library, started researching. After a few weeks, they finally found a solution: a ritual that a Potter had created as an ill-fated attempt to go back in time to meet Alexander the Great. Lily quickly got to work recreating the Arithmancy of the ritual in an attempt to successfully modify the ritual to not only send Harry back in time, but bring him back to the present time.

After weeks of nearly continuous work, Lily managed to modify the ritual enough to incorporate a block on Harry's core in an effort to blend in with the most likely Muggle society he'd be placed in. The block would be broken when his magical maturity hit at the age of 17, at which point the ritual would be reversed and the ritual and return Harry to his time.

Unfortunately for the Potters, they could not effectively determine where or when Harry would end up, other than the fact that he could be sent back between 100-200 years back. They determined to go along with the ritual, despite the unknown factors, hoping he would be sent to a time and place without the bloody war he was destined to win in Magical Britain.

On the fateful night when Voldemort came knocking, Lily and James both met their deaths with a smile, denying Voldemort the satisfaction of their begging while also providing the sacrifice necessary for the ritual.

_October 31, 1845  
>Clarksburg, Virginia, USA<em>

Thomas Jackson was on a short leave of absence from the Army before taking a position teaching at Virginia Military Institute under his old friend and comrade-in-arms Robert Lee. Taking a late-night ride around his parent's land, he saw a bright flash of light a couple hundred yards away. Drawing his cavalry sabre and sidearm, he cautiously nudged his horse Sally towards the light.

Not seeing anything suspicious, he dismounted his horse and approached on foot. He was shocked to find a baby wrapped in a blanket looking curiously at him. He decided to pick up the baby and take him back to his parents. His mother, Julia Jackson, immediately took to the baby with his jet-black hair and glowing green eyes. She noticed a letter tucked into the baby's blanket, opened it and read it aloud.

"His name is Harry James Potter, and it says here that he was born in 1980, and was sent back in time when his parents died this day in 1981 by a magical ritual." Since both Julia and her husband Jonathon were both Squibs, the idea of magic was not a shock to the family.

"His magical core was blocked as a part of the ritual, and he'll go back after his magical maturity, and that he'll have to fight a war against a Dark Wizard. Until then, it asks that we look after Harry as if he was our own. That shouldn't be a problem, right Jonathon?"

"Yes dear, that shouldn't be a problem. We can put him up in Thomas' old room. We can tell him about how we found him when he gets older."

And thus did Harry James Potter become Harry James Jackson, resident of the great state of Virginia in the United States in America.


	2. Chapter 1

**/* How'd you like the prologue? Short, I know. I'm sorry. I know I prefer chapters in the 1-5K length, but the prologue really didn't have much to set up before we get started. Mea culpa. Anyways, this should take us through Harry's early years. Note that he'll be called exclusively James Jackson in his time in the past, unless he's in trouble. And did I mention that the timeline Anyways, here we go.  
>***

_November 15, 1860  
>Virginia Military Institute, Lexington VA, USA<em>

James Jackson was having a good day. Though he went to the Virginia Military Institute full-time and classes were excused for the day, and the students were enjoying the sunshine and time off.

James had lived at the Institute ever since his adopted mother and father died when he was 11, leaving him to live at the Institute with his big brother and idol, Thomas. It was unsurprising when he immediately started sitting in on classes and managed to fake his age enough to officially enroll. Since he was a near-prodigy student and he was tall enough to get away with it, the Institute let the four year's difference slide.

Over the next three-plus years, James earned the respect of every instructor at the Institute, and was taken under the wing of Gen. Robert Lee himself. He was known for his prodigious intellect and his brilliant but simple battle plans that could easily be modified mid-combat.

As time went by, the instructors started grooming him for high leadership in the Army of the 1st Virginian. Even while participating in classes with students seven to eight years his senior, he still was first in his class.

Of course, not everyone was happy with the skill and brilliance he displayed, and he often had to take on jealous students resentful of the praise he received. While hand-to-hand combat was briefly discussed at the Institute, it was never officially taught. This didn't stop the jealous students from trying to give him a beating. Luckily, he had sent enough of a message after the last attack for the students to understand he wouldn't hide his brilliance.

**FLASHBACK**

After classes had finished on a Friday, James went to the stables to exercise his horse Templar. After saddling him and riding him around the dirt enclosure for a little bit, he brushed Templar down and headed towards the students' quarters.

However, he was shortly surrounded by ten of the older students ready to graduate. Recognizing the danger, he closed his eyes, concentrating on an ability he had discovered the first time the bullies had tried to prove a point with him.

He had, at the time, been 11, and had somehow been able to increase his speed and strength to beat the 16 year old who had tried to beat him up. He realized the potential of this discovery, and worked for weeks to perfect the ability.

He learned that, while meditating, he could visualize glowing green tendrils snaking from the center of his chest to his extremities, and that he could use these tendrils to manipulate his muscle density, making him stronger and faster without bulking him up.

Surrounded by angry ten young men between 17 and 20, he realized he would need all the assistance his manipulations would provide, even though he was not in the habit of using them for the sake of using them. He quickly beefed himself up, thanking God for his foresight to enlarge the tendrils snaking through him to speed up the process and waited for the rush.

The ten men came in a surprisingly uncoordinated rush for men learning the art of war, and James was quick to glide around them, punching and elbowing as he went. After dropping half of the attackers into unconsciousness, the other five backed off to get a strategy.

Now coming at him in a more coordinated fashion, James had to start working for his knockouts. Taking a kick across the chest in favor of avoiding an elbow to the nose, he lashed out with one of his tendrils at the man who kicked him.

Having recently mastered the art of manipulating the tendrils within his body, he was eager to see what would happen when he extended one beyond his body, and his experiment was a resounding success, with the man dropping unconscious at his feet, not to rise for three and a half hours.

The last four men were astonished. All they had seen was their friend kick the boy before dropping to the ground like a sack of flour. They, simply assuming James had moved so quickly they couldn't see him, turned to gape at him. Taking advantage of their shock, James quickly knocked the rest of them out.

He wandered off to tell his brother of his newest power, since he already knew about James' body manipulations, and offered to help him in whatever way possible. As the son of two Squibs, he couldn't do much, but he offered guidance and suggestions for James that more often than not would point him in a way to solve whatever problem he went to his brother for.

**END FLASHBACK**

Thomas, knowing of the block on his brother's magical core, was astonished to hear that James had somehow managed to cast non-vocal wandless magic. He suggested that James focus his efforts on military uses for his magic, though he didn't call it that.

James quickly developed a repertoire of what he dubbed "waves." Several were offensive, though had to be cast within a distance of the target. A few were healing waves. He even had a couple for cleaning, mostly his quarters, clothing, and the cannons the army used. He also developed on that allowed him to see if anyone else around him could use tendrils within their own body.

While he was working on these waves, he made sure to not let anyone know what he was doing and to not slack on his school work. Thomas made sure to stress discretion, knowing that if he displayed overt signs of magic, he would have to go to a school in New York to learn how to control magic. But so life went on, until this fateful day in November.

James was having a good day. He had rounded up a friendly group of students for a game of low-stakes poker, when he felt Thomas coming up behind him. Scooping up the pot he had just won, James turned to his brother.

"Major Jackson" James said with a crisp salute, "what is happening sir? I heard a huge shout before, but could not hear what was said."

"Well, baby brother" Thomas replied with a casual, ignoring the customary grimace on James' face when faced with that hated nickname, "Virginia just declared independence from the United States of America, following the other Southern states. You want to head to my room to talk?"

James nodded, thinking deeply, and followed his brother to his quarters. After making sure they were both seated, Thomas poured them both a finger of whiskey.

At James' raised eyebrow, Thomas replied, "We'll need it. This is some deep shit James. I assume you want to fight?" At James' nod, he sighed. "I figured. I do too, and I'm inclined to fight for my native Virginia over the States. You?" James nodded again, and Thomas let out a small smirk. "Well, Lincoln's in for it now. Let's finish these, and make it official. Cheers."

They downed their whiskey, James choking a little of his, and took the rest of the day to withdraw and resign from the Institute, deciding to ride to Richmond the next day. James had little to pack, knowing that any uniform would be provided when he enlisted, so he just had to add his personal effects to his saddlebags.

Pausing over his schoolbooks, he decided to leave them, but refused to leave his precious copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War General Lee had given him for his birthday the year before. Wrapping the Bowie knife his brother had given him for the same birthday in some undershirts and adding a pair of boots, he decided that should be enough and turned in for the night.

Before he did, he made sure to organize the day's thoughts in his mind, something that he'd done for years. Ever since he had started meditating to find his tendrils, he discovered that having a clear mind would make it easier for him to focus and manipulate his tendrils. Satisfied with his efforts, he passed out, knowing the next day would be a long one.


	3. Chapter 2

**/*AN: Soooo, I guess it's been a while since I've updated this story. I guess I just kinda lost my motivation for it in the cracks of real life. But I'm back! I'll be alternating between updating this and Marauder's Journey for a while, I may toss in chapters of Master of the Universe every now and again, but this is not abandoned!**

**Anyways, here's where we start to void from actuality and some actual combat for James. Hopefully I'll wrap up the Civil War in chapter or two before James time-jumps back to the present. We'll see how long that lasts.  
>***

_July 21, 1861  
>Manassas, VA<em>

Nearly a year after enlisting, James was finally seeing some real combat. After he and his brother had gone to Richmond to enlist in the 1st Virginian, General Lee had eagerly claimed both Jackson brothers, recognizing their skill on the battlefield. Taking on James as Major and promoting Thomas to Lieutenant Colonel, they had spent the months they'd been given to start whipping the army into shape.

But now, it was time. They'd been fighting a slow retreat since the first week in July, but this was to be the first real battle for most of the men, and their nervous shuffling showed it. James rode his horse along the line, giving comforting words to the men. His brother raised his voice in prayer as the Yankees gave a shout and started their charge.

As the battle raged on and on, the lines shuffled back and forth, the Yankees gaining ground, then giving it back, then gaining even more, just to be pushed back again. As James watched, he noticed the Confederate left flank starting to collapse. He brought it to Gen. Lee's attention, who quickly sent James at the head of a cavalry squad to reinforce the flank.

James drew his saber and led the squad to where the Yankees had nearly breached and quickly rammed into the offending bluecoats. He and his squad decimated the Yankees, and decided there were few enough Yankees left alive on the flanks for him to maneuver. He led his squadron and the 3rd Virginian, the foot soldiers that were holding the flank, into a curling maneuver, pinning a section of the Union Army between them and the rest of the Confederate line, forcing them to fight on two sides.

As the cavalry hit the Union lines, they took them by surprise, stunning the Yankees for long enough for the 3rd Virginian to catch up and form lines and start a bayonet charge. As they did, the Confederates on the line formed a counter-charge into the Union lines massing in front of them, causing a devastating two-pronged assault on the unprepared Northern troops.

Those that didn't immediately die in the assault dropped their weapons in surrender. James sent half of the 3rd to escort the prisoners back to where they were holding them, and had the rest of the 3rd form back up on the flanks. He led the cavalry back to Gen. Lee, who praised James for his ingenuity in the assault.

The Northern general, seeing a good portion of his army surrender, called a general retreat, giving the field to the Confederates for the first real victory in the war, to much celebration from the men, the Jackson brothers included.

_Late 1861  
>Ft. Jackson, Louisianna<em>

Over the past months, James had proved himself every bit the military genius he was slotted to be, and had quickly been promoted and personally given regional command of the forces around New Orleans, anticipating a force from the North to take New Orleans as a foothold on the Mississippi River to work their way back to the North. His command was for the city of New Orleans, along with the forts in the area, namely Ft. Twigg, Ft. Jackson, and Ft. St. Phillips, and he decided to base himself out of Ft. Jackson for the time being, and move as necessary to the other forts or New Orleans itself.

Unfortunately, by the time James had reached Ft. Jackson, he was told that Ft. Twigg had been surrendered to the Union, was fortified, and was now named Ft. Massachusetts. He sat down with the commander of Ft. Jackson to figure out the situation.

"Sir," the commander told him. "We belive that the Union forces are being led by Butler, who will be leading close to 10,000 men, along with Commodores Farragut and Porter leading a force of fifty or so vessels. In retaliation, we have built fortifications and obstructions all up the Mississippi."

"Very good, commander, make sure to reinforce the barricades on the river and make sure your men are prepared for the assault at any point now."

The man saluted, and was gone. James went to the nearest telegraph operator to get in contact with President Davis to coordinate his defense of the Mississippi. He had just gotten confirmation that the French would sending a dozen ships to their aid within a few days when shouts rang out that the Union warships were nearby the fort.

James ran to the walls, only to find out that the obstructions in the river were indeed washed away by a flood, allowing the Union to bring their ships up the river undetected by the cover of the heavy gloom and mist. James immediately ordered an open fire on the ships in the river and for new obstructions to be built between the forts and New Orleans to further slow the Union troops if they did make it past the forts.

For days, the forts were pounded by Union artillery, until James got confirmation from the French they were in a position to take the Union ships from both sides. So James ordered the remaining Confederate ships, including the new ironside ship he'd personally gotten President Davis to commission into an attack on the Union ships.

As the French attacked from their side of the Union he saw a small detachment of French troops surrounded by the larger-than expected number of Union troops. James commanded all the available cavalry units to mount up and go to their rescue.

They slipped from the back side of the fort, which was were the French troops were heading before they were cut off and surrounded by the Union troops that were also apparently planning on attacking the fort. James let loose a vicious war cry as the cavalry pounded into the unsuspecting Union troops. They easily mopped up the Union forces, James shooting the commander in the head right as he was about to take off the French Major's head.

Luckily, the Major spoke English, and introduced himself as Major Jean-Pierre Delacour. James was surprised to feel that the Major was magical, long since having figured out that was the source of the waves he used and felt.

He and his cavalry escorted the French troops back towards the fort, stopping to pick up Union prisoners from the riverbank, where they'd washed up after jumping off their now-destroyed ships in the river, courtesy of the combined French and Confederate vessels. Since the entire Union force attacking the forts surrendered, James allowed extra whiskey rations to the men under his command. As they celebrated, he took Major Delacour aside to his office (**AN: Imagine a French accent, I won't attempt to write [and mangle] it, thanks**).

"Sir," he said to the Frenchman. "I feel that you are magical, is this correct?"

"Oui, I am. My family has gone back for a few generations. I will admit little to no knowledge of American magical families, but the Jackson name is not one I am familiar knowing."

"You are somewhat correct, sir. The Jackson family has only had one magical in it, and the people who adopted me were both Squibs. I personally was found by my father, who told me that I was somehow sent back into the past as a part of a ritual, but he never gave me my birth name."

"Hmm, I take it that you have very little, if any, magical training then?" At a nod from James, he continued. "In addition, you probably know nothing of life debts?" Another nod from James. "Well then, since you saved my life, I essentially owe you a debt. Most time life debts are paid with marriage contracts, and while my wife and I only have a son at this point, we could write an open-ended one that would only force you to marry when the Delacour family has a daughter within a few years of your age. Is this an amenable solution for you?"

"Well sir, I will apparently be sent back to my timeline once I reach my magical maturity, which I assume occurs at the age of 18?" At the correction from the Major of "17 years, actually," he continued. "The ritual that sent me back should, at the time of my magical maturity, release the block on my magic and take me to the year 1998 then. So, if this is the way you want to pay off your life debt, the contract would have to wait to be activated until then, or be passed down my line if there is no suitable match."

"Your magic is blocked? That's very unusual, and not good for your core. I can unblock you if you want, and since I will be posted here for a while in anticipation of another Union foray up the river, I can begin to teach you magic if you wish. As to the contract, we can write it so that you would have to marry a daughter of the house of Delacour family at the age of 18, assuming the daughter is within a year under or five years over you?"

"That would be wonderful, and much appreciated sir. The solution to the contract works for me, although obviously my birth name wasn't James Jackson. How about you write it so James Jackson will have to marry a daughter of the Delacour family, a copy of the contract will be put into my vault at Gringotts in Richmond, and I will claim my vault when I return to 'my time' and the contract will be activated from that point forward, pending an acceptable match."

"That works for me sir. And, since we will most likely be spending large amounts of time together, feel free to call me Jean."

"In that case, please call me James. It will be a pleasure to work with and learn from you Jean."

The two shook hands and went to join their men in celebration of their victory on the day, vowing to leave the magical block for the next day, given the effort and time that would into removing the block. Over the next months, Jean and James worked closely together, both in working on James' magic and in defense of the Mississippi from the occasional foray the Union made towards New Orleans. After a while, the North seemed to give up on passing Ft. Jackson and Ft. St. Phillips, so the French fleet was sent home and James was reassigned to lead a new unit, the 1st Tennessee.

_Late April, 1863  
>Chancellorsville, Virginia<em>

The 1st Tennessee had not been pressed into much service over the past months, until they met up with General Lee in defense of Richmond. James was stationed outside a town called Chancellorsville in command of nearly 10,000 men. James and the 1st had slowly been engaged in a fighting retreat towards Richmond from the Army of the Potomac and their nearly 50,000 troops.

James was finally reunited with his brother, who had stuck with Gen. Lee for the duration, and the three put their heads together to create a trap for the over-eager Gen. Hooker of the North, who had dug himself into Chancellorsville proper.

Lee would feign a retreat towards Richmond, while Thomas Jackson would get nearly 10,000 men and a few dozen cannons to hold an easily defended hill nearby, while James would feign a last stand at Chancellorsville to allow Lee time to organize a defense around Richmond.

What Hooker and his troops wouldn't know was that James would have a few thousand troops in the forest behind Chancellorsville as a flanking force and that Lee's troops would only go far enough to sneak back around behind the Union troops to flank from the other side. Then, when the counter-attack came from the flanking forces, the Jacksons would also lead their troops into the fray.

So, while Hooker thought he would be facing the combined 20,000 men of the Jackson brothers, he would in fact be facing closer to 7,000 men total coming at him from four different directions. And, when Hooker arrogantly attacked head-on, assuming his numbers would easily overwhelm the brothers, the plan was executed.

Hooker attacked early in the morning, trying to surprise the Confederates. James held his lines while his brother's cannons boomed, raining death by grapeshot onto the Union troops. Hooker sent men to attack the fortified position of the elder Jackson brother. The Union troops were driven back, but not before James saw his older brother, his hero Thomas, fall to a gunshot to the heart.

He gave a roar of agony, and ordered his men to charge. PGT Beauregard, Thomas Jackson's second-in-command, saw James charge early and ordered the men not maintaining the cannonfire to mop up the rest of the Union forces and join James' charge.

Luckily, Lee and Gen. Tonks, who was in control of the other flanking force, were both in position and saw the grief-stricken James order the charge, quickly adding their forces to the fight. Hooker's forces were entirely unprepared for the move, and lost nearly a third of their troops in the initial counter-attack.

As James worked his way through the Union troops with naught but his cavalry sabre, he let out his grief and rage at his brother's death on the overwhelmed Union troops. He eventually fought his way over to where Gen. Tonks was being pushed back, the Northern troops knowing that was the weakest of the forces nearly surrounding them.

Getting a sense of deja vu, James pumped a shot from his pistol into the head of the Northern soldier about to behead Gen. Tonks. As he helped him up, he was not entirely shocked to find that Gen. Tonks, much like Major Delacour, was magical. With a barely heard "We'll discuss my life debt later" from Gen. Tonks, the two men waded their way back into the fight, neither the type of leader to lead from the back.

After another hour or so of struggle, Hooker realized the futility of further struggle and surrendered his army to the overwhelming odds facing him. James immediately went to get drunk and mourn his brother.

The next morning brought a vicious hangover and a visit from Generals Lee, Tonks, and Beauregard, now officially in charge of Thomas Jackson's forces. In their war council, attended by President Davis, they made a plan for troop dispersion in an effort to finally finish off the North. Of the men in the tent for the war council, only President Davis knew there was a photographer taking a picture of the meeting. The man got what would later be called the most famous picture of what would be known as the Second War for Independence: James Jackson's eyes somehow seeming to flash in the black and white picture as he pointed at a map on the table, surrounded by the other Generals and the President of the Confederacy. James Jackson's legacy was immortalized.

**/* AN: Phew, that was a long-ass bugger. Lots of text, and I skimmed through some good chunks of time. I wrote this under the impression that with James (Harry) in charge of New Orleans, his tactical mind would prevail and the South wouldn't lose NOLA, and be able to hold it. Threw in the French just to introduce the contract with the Delacours, guess who one of the pairings is going to be? Same thing with Gen. Tonks, as we'll see next chapter.**

**Again, I'm playing rather loose and free with dates and places, so this will not be historically accurate. Sorry. That's the way it goes. As for the Second War of Independence thing, I figure the South would call the war whatever they wanted if they won, and that seemed to fit. So I used it. Next chapter I post will probably be from Marauder's Journey, but the next chap from here should, in theory, be up shortly after that. So, something to look for. Peace  
>***


	4. Chapter 3

**/* AN: So I guess this didn't come out as soon as I had hoped to get it out, life caught up to me. But it's out now! So, yeah! I know last chapter ended kinda oddly, but I needed a place to end the chapter before it ran even longer than it did. I like to keep chapters around the 2k-3k word range. Anyways, new chapter! Here goes!  
>***

_May 2, 1863  
>Chancellorsville, Virginia<em>

James walked out of the meeting with President Davis and the other Generals happy with the progress he'd made in the meeting. He'd managed to talk Davis into creating a corps for freed slaves, and use a draft system that for every ten slaves owned, an owner freed one for the new corp. These freed slaves would, in theory, fight harder for their freedom, which would remain after the war.

Davis finally agreed on the provision the new "Colored Corp" would be added under James' command. That decided on, the rest of the meeting went smoothly. General Lee would remain in the West with a good chunk of the remaining troops to combat the suddenly effective General Grant, while Beauregard would lead his troops to combat the rampaging General Sherman, who was starting to destroy his way towards Atlanta. General Tonks would join James in a mission to fight their way North towards Washington DC and take the North by the throat and end the war. The combined troops fighting their way North would be under James' control and the Colored Corp would join them when they fully formed.

James and General Tonks, who told James to call him George if they would be working closely together, made their way to James' tent for further strategizing and for him to release his life debt to the younger man. They entered the tent and James laid out maps marking troop positions.

"Whiskey?" he asked Gen. Tonks, who accepted. "Alright, so let's talk life debt. Believe it or not, this exact situation happened earlier in the war, in my defense of New Orleans with a Frenchman actually. I'll tell you the same thing I told him. My adoptive parents found me with a note saying that I would return to the year 1998 if all goes right with the ritual my parents did to send me here. My resolution with him was to have an open-ended marriage contract. I assume that's the way you want this to go?"

At a nod from the older man, he continued. "Right, we crafted an open-ended marriage contract for James Jackson to marry a daughter of the house in question if the daughter was within a year younger than me and five years older than me. The contract was then put into the Gringotts vault in my name in Richmond, and when I claim that vault when I return to the 1900's, the contract would be activated, assuming a daughter of the house of Tonks meets those requirements. Is this a suitable conclusion?"

"It is, although I am slightly concerned that someone other than you yourself would be able to claim that vault and the contract."

"That should not be an issue, sir. The vault is under blood locks, and since I'm the only person between now and when I return to my time that has my blood, it will not be claimed between then. In addition, I have informed the goblins that I will be returning to my time, and they will maintain my vault. In theory, I should have returned in November of last year, but I think the binding on my magical core when I arrived have delayed my magical maturity, so the goblins know I could up and disappear any day now."

"Delayed magical maturity aside, that sounds acceptable to me, shall we get that written up?" Gen. Tonks asked James.

James nodded. "I even have a wizard in my support staff that was a lawyer, and he wrote up the other contract, so he knows how to write a good contract. Is that acceptable to you?" At a nod from Gen. Tonks, he continued. "Alright then, let's start planning. Can you call in your officers? May as well involve them in this?"

Gen. Tonks saw the logic in this, and each man called in their supporting officers and James invited his spymaster, who was the first to speak once James opened the floor after explaining the purpose of the meeting.

"Well, as these maps show, the Union troops that aren't with Grant and Sherman are under the command of Gen. Buchannon, and they are mostly concentrated in Gettysburg. Lincoln has sent them messages ordering them to hold there for the time being, and we've spliced into their telegraph lines and given fake messages to further that effect. In essence, the heart of the Union army is sitting on their thumbs waiting for an attack there."

James spoke next. "They may be sitting there, but they have a good position to sit there and wait for us. For the positons I can see here, they've been arrayed on the high ground, and we'd have this large field to traverse before we could get to them."

The leader of Gen. Tonks' cavalry, a guy named Pickett, offered an opinion. "Well if they gave us all that wide-open space to attack, I say we do it. They know we're being led by Gen. Jackson, so they'll probably expect trickery. They'll never expect an up-front charge into their teeth."

His suggestion was met with thoughtful expressions from the assembled officers. James was the first to respond. "That may not be a terrible idea. The problem is we're going to be slightly outnumbered when we get there, assuming the Colored Corp won't be battle-ready. If we do go with Pickett's charge, we couldn't do it right off, the men we'd send would be massacred. You do have a point though, I am know for my tricky maneuvers, and they might be expected any other suggestions?"

After another few ideas thrown out, James hit on an idea and dismissed the officers except Gen. Tonks. "George, I have an idea. As you know, the knowledge of magic users is highly restricted to those not in the know. What you don't know is that I can sense magical users, and I've formed a corps of men in my army exclusively made of wizards. They function as my special operation unit. Any mission I think may be too dangerous for a normal unit, I send them in. They can't do much active magic while on missions, but subtle magic beforehand can make a world of difference."

"What kind of mission have they been sent on, and what can they do?"

"Do you remember my victories in Shannon, Tennessee and Wilson, Georgia?" A nod from Tonks. "Those victories were mostly due to the Suicide Squad, which is what they call themselves, since once they go out on missions, they are utterly out of sight, out of mind. They have no support, and officially don't exist. The only people who know about the squad are myself and President Davis. At Shannon, they charmed themselves invisible and ambushed reinforcements being sent to the town, reducing the number of troops we had to fight by nearly a third. At Wilson, they transfigured their uniforms to look like Union uniforms, got into the fort, poisoned the well, and killed off all the officers. In the bedlam the next day, we went into the doors the squad left open and wiped everyone up."

Tonks was wide-eyed by this point. "Those are the two battles they did the most for, they almost single-handedly won those battles for me, and I'm not sure I would have won if not for them. But that's mostly what they do, ghost around and off who I tell them to. I've even got a group planning to off Lincoln if President Davis gives me the go-ahead on that plan. But that's in the past. For Gettysburg, I think we can send in the Suicide Squad and sabotage the Union troops, that'll give us an edge. Thoughts?"

"It's a damn good idea, we'll have to pick where we want them to focus. The thing we need to worry about is if this is a 'go in and kill people' mission or a 'go in and sabotage things' mission. My immediate thought is to have them go in and sabotage the cannons in the center of the line for Pickett's charge, but if we're not doing that right off, we might want to hold off. Otherwise, we could just have them go in and off as many troops as possible before they get caught. Go in with blades and just start cutting."

"The cannons thing is a good idea, and I'd thought about that too. What we could do is have them go in and sabotage the cannons, and then stay absolutely away from the center of the lines day one so they don't notice. If we don't lick them on the first day, we go with Pickett's charge and hope he smashed through their lines in confusion of the North about their cannons not firing. As to your second idea, that's a bit too literal on the name Suicide Squad for my liking."

"That's a fair point, what about incapacitating their troops through some other means? How's your knowledge of potions?"

"Almost entirely non-existent" James informed the older man cheerfully. "What do you have in mind?"

"My family has held onto a potion recipe to cause incurable explosive diarrhea, one of my ancestors accidentally dropped the wrong ingredient into a potion. We've mostly held onto it in embarrassment, nobody really wants to be known for something like that. If your squad can start mass-producing it, they can get in and drop it on food after or before they sabotage the cannons."

"I like that idea, that should be incredibly effective. Let me call in Captain Greengrass, he's one of the men the Brits sent to help us, and he leads the Suicide Squad, and get him started on brewing. I'll also have Captain Stevenridge come in to write up the marriage contract while we're at it."

That said, James called for the two captains to be brought to his tent, and he laid out what he wanted from each of them. Captain Stevenridge got his orders first, and promised to have the contract done by the time they arrived to Gettysburg, and was shown out of the tent. Captain Greengrass was given his instructions to begin brewing the diarrhea potion, which luckily had fairly common ingredients. Once it was brewed, they would start stocking it in mason jars. He was also given the instructions to sabotage the cannons, with the possibility of more orders once they got to Gettysburg and got the lay of the troops.

_July 3, 1863  
>Gettysburg, Pennsylvania<em>

The march to Gettysburg was restful for James. They kept intercepting orders from Lincoln for Buchanon to send troops to attack the approaching Confederate troops and kept sending Buchanon their fake orders to stay put. By the time the Confederates got to Gettysburg and set up their lines, Cap. Greengrass had stockpiled a fair amount of the potion, but not nearly enough to take out the whole Union Army. James called Cap. Greengrass to his tent.

"Good evening Captain, are your boys ready for the mission tonight?" Upon receiving and affirmative answer from Greengrass, he continued. "Good man. You're going in invisible. Take care of the potion first; concentrate most of your efforts on their right flank. Once that's done, take care of the cannons in the center of their lines. Call it the center-most five cannons, any more and they'll notice. If you manage to pull that off, start replacing men on their left flank with men from the Squad. Off 'em, take their uniforms, and play good until day two. If you manage that, send one man back to me as messenger that you did it, or we're coming in for vengeance for your deaths. If you do it, when Pickett leads his charge, turn on 'em and hold 'em off, we'll send men in to back you up. Clear?"

"Yes sir. We potion their right flank. Sabotage the cannons in the center, then replace men on their left flanks. Once Pickett charges, we attack their left flank, and you send in backup when you can. How will the men attacking their left know who we are?"

"I had Cap. Stevenridge draw up these documents stating your allegiance, each signed by me personally. There is one for each of the Squad, take them and keep them close to you. Other than that, the men should know by then that you're there and on our side. I'll be personally leading that effort, since you are my men. Always know that. I want one picture with the Squad, then once night hits, you're off."

"Very good sir."

It was that easy. Captain Greengrass sent back his messenger saying that they estimated a quarter of the Union troops would be affected by the potion, the five cannons in the center of the line were spiked and ineffective, and they'd successfully replaced men on the left flank, only losing two men in the process.

The first day of the Gettysburg battle was slow. James sent a few units to attack the North's flank where, true to his word, a quarter of the Union Army didn't look so good. Once James' men wiped out those affected by the potion, he called it a day, and waited for their all-out attack the next day.

That night, James intercepted messages from Buchanon begging Lincoln for the order to retreat, and sent back more false orders telling him to stay put and fight to the last man. Chuckling himself at his duplicity, James went to bed anticipating the next day's events.

_July 4, 1863  
>Gettysburg, Pennsylvania<em>

Dawn broke, as it always does, and the Confederacy was waiting with bated breath for their orders, rumors had broken that today was the day they would forever break the North. When they assembled, their orders backed it up: Captain Pickett would lead all cavalry units into a full-on charge at the center of the lines, while the rest of the troops would be under James or General Tonks attacking the North's left and right flanks respectively.

When Pickett started his charge, it happened exactly as they'd planned. The center cannons, which hadn't been touched the day before, failed to fire, causing mass confusion in the center lines. Pickett more than capitalized on the confusion, smashing the Union troops into even more disarray. Greengrass, as ordered, turned the Suicide Squad against the men on the flank, causing even more confusion.

As soon as Pickett hit the Union lines, the rest of the Confederate troops charged their respective flanks. James hit the Union hard just as the Suicide Squad was surrounded. Internally sighing at the predictability of this action, he idly shot the man about to stab Captain Greengrass. The two shared a meaningful glance that said they'd discuss the life-debt later, and then turned back towards the imminent death they were facing.

It didn't take much longer before Buchanon surrendered his army, and there was much rejoicing among the Confederates. New shortly afterwards came in that Grant and Sherman had surrendered, and the North had surrendered to the Confederacy, granting the South their freedom.

In the aftermath, James made sure to meet with each remaining member of the Suicide Squad, now much diminished, and thanked each and every one of them. He managed to set aside time to set up a similar contract with Captain Greengrass that he had with the Tonks and Delacour family, then met with President Davis to receive commendation for his victory.

_October 30, 1863  
>Clarksburg, Virginia<em>

Harry spent his birthday at the Jackson home in Virginia. Now that he was 19, he was wondering when exactly his magical maturity would occur and he would return to his time. Not that he was happy to leave the place he had spent most of his life, far from it.

His military career was on the rise, or would be if he hadn't told President Davis that he would be sent over a hundred years into the future any day now. Davis offered James a perpetual license for training with the Confederates, knowing that in the 100+ years James wouldn't be around, that warfare would change immensely. Since this was pretty much the extent of the reward he could give his most successful general, Davis offered it eagerly. Harry always kept this license on him in anticipation of the day he would be sent back to the future.

Almost as if it was waiting for him to ask, a swirl of magic descended on Harry, picking him up and sending him swirling into the future. When he landed, he was standing in the center of a large hall in an equally huge stone castle, surrounded by children. Directly in front of him was a casket, a large goblet belching bright blue flames on top of it. Standing behind a table behind the goblet was an elderly man with a long white beard and unnaturally twinkling eyes, shouting the name "Harry Potter!"

**/* AN: Fin! Whoo, baby, didn't think I'd make it all the way through that one! I'm not entirely happy with how this one came out, I may rewrite parts of it later, we'll see. But Harry's back in his time, and has been chosen for the Triwizard Tournament! How will he do with no official magical education and only his military training? Tune in next time to find out! Next chapter I'll put out will almost certainly be for Marauder's Journey, then I'll come back here. My spring break is coming up, so writing will be limited, in theory. We'll see. Peace,  
>***


	5. NOTICE: NOT A NEW CHAP

**Hey everybody, not a new chapter, sorry! That said, I've finally replaced the laptop I may or may not have lit on fire during a booze-fueled drunken rampage during spring break. Hint, I did. So, I've now replaced the laptop, so new chapters should be coming out shortly! Sorry for the wait, but shit happens. Especially to my drunken alter-ego. Peace,**

**Manski**


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